City officials say they won't enforce minimum wage

Protesters erupted outside The Malt Shop in Albuquerque after the owner refused to pay his workers the city's new minimum wage, but when it comes to enforcing the law, the city of Albuquerque said they're on their own.

"It's not going to be enforced through the City Attorney's Office. You'll have to get a private attorney," city attorney David Tourek said. "I don't think it's right to have the city involved in private causes of action."

Workers advocates said that's just not realistic.

"For a lot of our workers, they're working two or three jobs. How are they supposed to find the time to find an attorney?" said Chelsey Evans of Working America.

Evans added that workers are often fearful of confronting their employer and risking getting fired.

"I think that can be terrifying. Especially when folks really need these jobs," she said.

But employers, like Eric Szeman of The Malt Shop readily admit they're not paying his employees the new minimum wage because they can't afford to.

"The lowest paid worker makes more than we do, but they know that," he said.

Action 7 News was told that the City Council is going to rework the legislation to figure out how to enforce it.